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Amelia Eliza Folder Sale
b.2 Apr 1831 Stepney, Middlesex, England
d.6 Oct 1914 Mile End Old Town, London, England
Family tree▼ (edit)
m. 30 Nov 1818
(edit)
m. Bet 1862 and 1864
Facts and Events
Amelia Eliza Folder Sale was born 2 Apr 1831 in Stepney, the fourth daughter of weaver and labourer Joseph Folder Sale and Sarah Kent. Amelia was christened 25 Apr 1831 at St. Leonard's Church in Shoreditch, London. Amelia already had several siblings; Elizabeth Mary Ann Foulder Sale born 6 Feb 1819, Sarah Folder Sale born 12 Sep 1823, Joseph Folder Sale born 17 Mar 1826 and died before Amelia was born aged 6 months, Mary Ann Rosina Folder Sale born 4 Jan 1828 and Thomas Folder Sale born about 1831. More siblings were born after Amelia: Joseph Folder Sale born about 1833, William Henry Folder Sale born about 1837 and Alice Ann Folder Sale born about 1840. In 1841 the family of nine were living at 7 Grove Street in Mile End Old Town. Grove street was somewhere between Mile End Road to the north, Grove Road, Prospect Place, Gardners Terrace and Essex Place. They shared the building with 7 other families, all up there being 49 people living at 7 Grove Street. Most of their adult male neighbours worked as labourers to support their family - it is easy to get an understanding of the Sale's living conditions as being amongst the worst poverty and overcrowding that was rife in Victorian-era London. Several of Amelia's siblings married in the 1840s: her eldest sister Elizabeth Mary Ann Foulder Sale was married to carpenter James Arthur in 1845, followed by Sarah Folder Sale marrying Thomas Francis Boswall in 1849, and Mary Ann Rosina Folder Sale married drover James Godefroy in 1850. Amelia has not yet been found in the 1851 census but living with her mother and younger siblings was a labourer "Edgar Beningfield". On 11 Sep 1854 Amelia married lathe render Edward York Benningfield at St. Philip's Church, Bethnal Green, and it seems reasonable to assume that this was the same person (e.g. the census taker may have spoken to a neighbour who mistakenly gave the name Edgar). They were both living on Canal Road at the time of their wedding and it is reasonable to assume they were already living together. It seems that Edward died or abandoned Amelia as by 1861 she was living with her mother under her maiden name, however in 1862 Amelia signed as a witness at her sister Alice's wedding as Amelia Eliza York Benningfield. Amelia apparently gave birth to a daughter, Minnie, in about 1857, and this may have been Edward's child. Minnie only appears on the 1911 census as the widow Minnie Hill, living with Amelia and her son George. Where she was in the intervening years, including what her maiden name had been, are still a mystery. In 1851 20 year-old drover Henry Ripley was living at 29 Harrow Bridge in West Ham with Amelia's brother-in-law and sister James and Maryann Godfrey. By 1861 Henry was living with Amelia and her widowed mother Sarah Sale. The family lived at 3 St. Thomas' Rd in Stepney, now the site of the Mile End Stadium. Henry was still working as a drover. Amelia's sister Maryann had died in 1857 and her last remaining child Henry Godefroy was also living with Amelia, Henry, and Sarah in 1861 (Henry Godefroy emigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1874). Also living with the family was another nephew of Amelia's, James Arthur - it's not known yet what happened to his parents Elizabeth Maryann Foulder Sale and James Arthur Sr., or what happened to James after the 1861 census. By 1864 Henry and Amelia were a couple and their first child Henry William Ripley was born on 13 Apr 1864, followed by Samuel Edward in November 1865, both in Mile End. All of Henry and Amelia's children were christened at Holy Trinity Church in Mile End, with the first two christened on 20 Dec 1865. The couple's first daughter, Amelia Maria, was born 5 Oct 1867 and christened on 6 Nov 1867. She was followed by William George, born 21 May 1869 and christened 16 Jun 1869; and George born 5 Aug 1870 and christened 28 Sep 1870. No marriage record has yet been found for Henry Ripley and Amelia so perhaps she was abandoned by Edward and unable to legally remarry. In 1871 Henry, Amelia, Samuel, William and George were living at 13 Alma Road. Their eldest son Henry had died in 1868 at the age of four, and their daughter Amelia was staying with Henry's childless sister and brother-in-law Maria and George Webber. Alma Road was just around the corner from St. Thomas' Rd, and 5 generations of the Ripley family lived within a 300-metre radius of Alma Rd for more than 100 years, from at least 1861-1960. On Booth's 1898-99 poverty map, Alma and St. Thomas' Rd were listed as "Poor. 18s. to 21s. a week for a moderate family". In 1871 the Ripley family shared 13 Alma street with 3 other families, making 18 people sharing one house, with the adults in typical working-class occupations such as cab drivers, cabinet makers and a needlewoman. Social mobility was fairly non-existent in those days so it's unsurprising Amelia's lot in life didn't seem to improve over the years. And soon there were more hungry mouths to feed. Henry and Amelia's second daughter Maria was born 4 Aug 1872 and christened 25 Aug 1872, followed by twins Harry and Thomas James (born 21 Dec 1874 at 13 Alma Rd, christened 19 Jul 1882), and Robert Edward James (born 13 Dec 1880 and christened 19 Jul 1882). At least their housing situation must have been stable, as the family of 10 were still living at 13 Alma Rd during the 1881 census, now sharing the house with just one other couple. Henry was still working as a drover, and eldest son Samuel was working as a guard boy, with the younger children listed as "scholar", indicating they spent at least some time in school. In the 1880s several of Henry and Amelia's children attended South Grove school.
Two more sons were born to Henry and Amelia; Joseph Walter born 22 Jun 1882 and christened 12 Jul 1882, and John born about 1883 (christening record not yet found). In total they had eleven children, with the last three children born when Amelia was aged 49, 51 and 52. It is highly unusual to give birth that late in life, but Joseph Walter's baptism record clearly lists Amelia Eliza Ripley as the mother, and Amelia's baptism record lists her birth date as 2 Apr 1831. There is a possibility that the baptism record is not the correct one for our Amelia - it's the only one of Joseph and Sarah Sale's children christened in Shoreditch, the only time Amelia's birth was listed as being before 1834, and the only time Joseph is mentioned as working as a weaver. It's possible there were two couples named Joseph and Sarah Sale who named a daughter Amelia in the 1830s, or that the correct Joseph and Sarah had two daughters named Amelia, one baptised in 1831 who died as a baby and then our Amelia Eliza Folder Sale born about 1835. By 1891 the family had moved around the corner to 54 St. Dunstan Road. Henry was now working as a general labourer, perhaps because now aged 60 he was too old for work as a drover. Eldest son Samuel had now taken up the occupation, and the other sons were earning their keep with William working as a labourer and twins Harry and (Thomas) James working as van guards. Eldest daughter Amelia was working as a "tailoress" and visiting at the home of general dealer Richard Chamberlain in Hammersmith. The younger daughter Maria has not been found in the 1891 census yet but given that she would have been aged 18 she may have already left home, or perhaps she died young. Her brother Joseph Walter Ripley died aged just 10 in Stepney in 1892. On 15 May 1893 Henry Ripley died of pneumonia aged 62 at 54 St. Dunstan Rd with Amelia at his side. He was buried in Tower Hamlets Cemetery. The 1890s were a decade of weddings for Amelia's children, with the first to wed being drover Samuel Edward Ripley to Emma Taylor at St. Dunstan's Church in Stepney on 14 May 1894. This was followed by elder daughter Amelia Maria wedding painter John William Montague in 1896 and George marrying irishwoman Mary Ann Potts in 1899. In general Amelia and Henry's children waited until they were in their late twenties or early thirties to marry, perhaps in an effort to establish some financial security before starting their own families. In 1901 Amelia was still living at 54 St. Dunstan Road, with her four unmarried sons William, Harry, Thomas and Robert, as well as two of her granddaughters, Alice Amelia and Mabel Ripley. The youngest son John has not been found in the 1901 census but as he would have been 18 he may have already left home. The two granddaughters don't appear to be the daughters of any of Amelia's sons. It seems her eldest daughter Amelia gave birth to at least one daughter before she married John William Montague - there is a record of a daughter born in Mile End Infirmary to a 20 year-old Amelia Ripley on 30 Sep 1888. This matches up to indicate that Amelia was Alice Amelia's mother. It is yet unproven but seems reasonable to assume that Amelia is also the mother of Mabel who was born in 1891. Amelia Jr. died in 1900 aged just 33 and this would have left Alice and Mabel orphans at the time of the 1901 census. In the early 1900s more of Amelia's children married and started their own families. On 12 Feb 1906 carman Robert Edward James married Emily Fisher and on Christmas day that year twins Harry and Thomas married on the same day at two different churches: coalman Harry to Elizabeth Clark at Holy Trinity Church in Mile End and carman Thomas to Elizabeth Bailey at St. Thomas Church in Stepney. Amelia lived at 54 St. Dunstan Road until 1910, but by the time of the census in 1911 she was living with her widowed bricklayer son George, his two daughters Amelia and Jessie, and the mysterious Minnie Hill at 12 Hamilton Road in Bethnal Green. Another son, Robert (a butcher), also lived in the building with his wife and three children. Amelia died on 6 Oct 1914 due to "old age" (the certificate states she was 76) with her son Harry Ripley at her side at his home at 267 Bow Common Lane. She was buried in Tower Hamlets Cemetery. [edit] DNA GenealogyIf you are a descendant of Amelia Sale and would like to compare autosomal DNA results please contact Jocelyn_K_B (at) yahoo.com for kit numbers Image Gallery
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